Found so much good stuff via Pandora, figured out how to “scrobble” it via my little Last.fm widget, so now the music I listen to shows up from there too. Found lots via Last.fm’s own “Tune In Now” radio gadget. Now I wonder why there are so many orchestral goth bands fronted by redheads. Obviously I missed out on this aspect of my musical career.
Link: Build Last.fm: Extend your Last.fm experience – Last.fm
I’ve given in to Last.fm, as I found that it was easy to add a widget to scrobble tracks I’ve listened to on iTunes or via Last.fm (it’s not working for the internet radio stations I listen to on Winamp). So far, I’ve listened to random things, and something I created called “The Muppets Radio.” It’s made for some interesting audio moments, which eventually led to Monty Python and something wacky called Moxy Fruvious. It’s high time I opened up to new music… I’m hoping it’ll help me dare to be a bit more productive and creative around here.
If you stumble across the blog after a long time away, you’ll see there’ve been a lot of changes. I’m giving a more modern WordPress theme a try… flirted with WooThemes, but found that their otherwise nifty WooTumblog plugin, paired with the Express for WordPress app for the iPhone really only works with Woothemes – all other themes require some modifications. The default Twenty Ten theme was the only example given for how to get it working; I had it working for a while with my previous theme, Amazing Grace, but it stopped working after the most recent WordPress version came out.
So, I decided to try the latest default theme, called Twenty Eleven. However, it was completely different from the previous default theme, and the instructions for getting WooTumblog configured were nowhere to be found. In fact, there was some indication on the support forums for WooTumblog that the latest version of WordPress kind of indicated that it would be harder and harder to integrate it into any non-Woothemes template.
Meh, I had played around with it from the iPhone, but it didn’t really make my blogging any easier from there. So I bailed on it (especially when an adjustment I tried to make to get it working totally broke my website. Buh-bye).
That said, I went all in with the new default theme, but still wanted a three column layout.
Enter NomNom Twenty Eleven child theme by Zeaks.
- 8 premade color schemes
- 6 new layouts including 3 different 3 column layouts
- Nivo Slider added to header with several options to control the look
- Option to resize the header
- Support for excerpts with post thumbnails
- Second menu above the header
- Sidebar on post pages
- Area to add your own custom CSS that will not be overwritten with an upgrade
- Google Font selector for most areas
- Built in related posts under each post with on/off option
- Superfish dropdown menu effects
- Custom Twitter, Flickr, Author Biography widgets
- Plain text to URL support(just type a url in a post, no need to create a link)
- WPPageNavi template and style support
- Color options for all menu areas
- All code is well commented
I didn’t really start working with it until yesterday, but it has plenty of flexibility for the kinds of color, graphic, and font tweaks that you might make to adapt a default theme. I’ve already added my normal CSS drop shadows – nice not to have to add it to the stylesheet, this theme has a custom CSS box where you can add it and it supposedly won’t get messed up in an upgrade. I’ve also added about a dozen custom banners that are taken from my own pictures – easy as pie, much simpler and more striking than the way I was doing it before. I may still fool with the Flickr badge in the right column.
There’s still some things to tweak but this is a pretty good start. And it’s been pleasant to listen to Last.fm come up with variations on “The Muppets” as a radio station, and see the music get added to my left side bar. I’ve also been listening to Radio Riel, my standby, which WON’T scrobble from what I can tell – via Winamp and http://www.radioriel.org.
More later, headed out to see “White Christmas” at the Marriott Lincolnshire.
Attention, SEB!!
A really great folk duo is playing in Ann Arbor this weekend at The Ark. If you like Scottish fiddle with a wee bit of percussive cello, don’t miss them. My husband David and I happened to catch a show on a vacation to Maine (they tour incessantly), and it was one of those rare moments of discovery.
Hope you see this notice, if folk music’s your thing.
13 Ann Arbor MI The Ark Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas 734-761-1451 Tickets, Info
“. . . the expressive gamut from deep Celtic melancholy to joyful jig, his fiddle imitations of the bagpipe almost unbelievable, the whole rendered with a humble sincerity, flawless virtuosity and just about the sweetest sound since Fritz Kreisler.” —L.A. TIMES
“Alasdair Fraser is recognized throughout the world as one of the finest fiddle players Scotland has ever produced. [His] name is synonymous with the vibrant cultural renaissance which is transforming the Scottish musical scene.” —SCOTS Magazine
Master Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser is a consummate performer. His dynamic fiddling, engaging stage presence, and deep understanding of Scotland’s music have created a constant and international demand for his solo appearances and concerts with a variety of ensembles. Alasdair has been a major force behind the resurgence of traditional Scottish fiddling in his homeland and the U.S., inspiring legions of listeners and learners through his recordings, annual fiddle camps, and concerts. He has represented Scotland internationally through performances sponsored by the British Council, and has been awarded touring support by the California Arts Council, with the ranking of “highest priority for inclusion on the roster; considered ‘model’ in stature.”
Alasdair’s richly expressive playing transports listeners across a broad musical spectrum, ranging from haunting laments from the Gaelic tradition to classically-styled airs, raucous dance tunes, and improvisations based on traditional themes. His vast repertoire spans several centuries of Scottish music and includes his own compositions, which blend a profound understanding of the Scottish tradition with cutting-edge musical explorations. He weaves through his performances a warm and witty narrative, drawing from a deep well of stories and lore surrounding Scotland’s musical heritage.
via Alasdair Fraser
I want to do this. I WANT TO DO THIS. Let’s do this, you mokes.
This is your official invitation to Songs of Good Cheer, the holiday singalong that my colleague Eric Zorn and I are hosting for the 13th straight year.
Sorry for mentioning Christmas in October, but there are a lot of hyper-organized holiday lovers out there who make plans long before the last leaf falls. So here’s everything you need to know to join us. We hope you will.
Who: A band of first-rate musicians from the Old Town School of Folk Music whose instruments include banjo, mandolin, bass, clarinet, fiddle, accordion, ukulele and washboard. Eric plays guitar. I play piano. You sing.
via An early warning – we'll be singing – chicagotribune.com
A coffeehouse named Two-Way Street in Downers Grove, that is. My husband David and I went there more than 10 years ago to see a folk performer named David Roth, we really could have been going all this time. Funny how time gets away from you.
Down a hallway and short flight of stairs, in a basement room of Downers Grove’s First Congregational Church, it’s not unusual to find a standing-room-only crowd on a Friday night.Not much has changed in the four decades folkies have gathered to draw bows across fiddles, strum guitars and pluck banjos, transforming the church basement into the Two Way Street Coffee House one night a week.”Why Downers Grove? I happen to be born here. I grew up here,” said Dave Humphreys, founder of the coffee shop, which opened its doors for the first time 40 years ago Wednesday.The genre-defining Newport Folk Festival, it’s not. But the Two Way Street, as Humphreys will tell you, is one of very few places in the Chicago area with a following that has remained constant as times and trends changed and folk music lost the widespread appeal it had in the ’60s.
This is really, really, really cool… but about the time this was going on, there was a bit of a security flap on. And yes, it’s for T-Mobile.
If David and I get serenaded by a flashmob like this, though, we’d be totally amazed!
Sang it in church, backing up Father Paul, who played his Pete Seeger-edition banjo. When I started to belt out the rousing alternate harmony line in the chorus, my choir buddies didn’t know what hit ’em because it wasn’t printed in the bulletin. Heh, old folk music fan here, yo.
C&L’s Late Night Music Club With Woody Guthrie | Late Nite Music Club
Woody Guthrie- This Land Is Your Land
We only sang the first three verses, and omitted the rabble-rousing last two. I was ready to go with the lyrics on my iPhone in case Father Paul kept on singing… that would have been a time!
It was great singing with Father Paul again, because we sometimes used to sing folk tunes when we’d do the monthly service at a nearby retirement home. He’s been very ill for most of the last year and only recently started to regain his strength. I’d been very worried about him and he’s still not out of the woods, but he’s gaining weight and getting back to his normal activities… like singing rabble-rousing folksongs and fighting injustice with his mighty banjo.
Just watch this kid’s face as his ukulele gently weeps, rocks out, then weeps again. #fb
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Got to sing this at the early service, but at a brisker pace and with no fancy soprano descant at the end. Lawd, that’s a pretty one! Must pass that one along to Her Musical Nibs at St Nick’s for next year.
Lo, he comes with clouds descending | Seven whole days
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@93XRT just played two excellent songs bookending a great Lin’s Bin podcast celebrating their station manager’s 30th anniversary. I just wish Shazam’s iPhone app could send custom tweets.
WXRT – 8/28/09: Norm’s Anniversary
There doesn’t seem to be a way to customize the tweets when using the Shazam iPhone app – I wish I could vary the text from “I used Shazam to discover…” And so, I won’t be using Shazam to send tweets very often, because frequent, robotic auto-posts get really annoying really fast.